Cheeks

As we all know, there ‘aint no party like an S Club party. And in the Year 2000, S Club 7 seriously brought it. Channelling a look favoured by early noughties J.Lo and numerous other pop stars, they donned their faux furs and white polonecks, their hair serum and their beige lipgloss, and filmed the video for ‘Never Had A Dream Come True’, the official Children in Need single for 2000.

I am now kind of sad that I don’t fit into the afghan coat I had when I was 11.

(Google it if you don’t know what that is).

I feel as if this video, all shimmer and gloss and sparkly snowflakes, epitomises the noughties era rather well. Once the Spice Girls had split, S Club 7 became my favourite band, so it only seemed right to base my contribution to the Makeup Through The Ages Beauty Blogger Collaboration on them.

This Collaboration, by the way, is the brainchild of Brittany The Beauty Deputy, who is always coming up with great ideas for tags and collabs! I’d say this is her biggest plan yet – a total of 11 beauty bloggers are involved, covering The Ancient Egyptians, Futuristic Makeup, and every decade between 1920 and the Present Day. I’ll post links to all their blogs at the end, so do go and have a look – I can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with!

Anyway, on to the post!

Here is the kit I used to become a weird hybrid of Rachel, Tina, Hannah, and Jo:

Erm…a bit more Laura Mercier Foundation (use a pale nude or beige lipstick if you’re more sensible than me); Benefit ‘Ticket to Glossytown’ Lip Glosses in ‘Life on the A List’ (pale pink) and ‘Nude-Tude’ (nudey glitter).

I actually did this look in the wrong order. I thought I’d practice the eye makeup and ended up going “sod it, let’s photograph the whole post,” so I did my eyes before my base, which is unusual for me.

Step 1: Snowflakes Sweep

Anyway, the first thing I did was sweep some Too Faced eyeshadow in ‘Snowflakes’ over my entire lids, all the way up to the brow bone and making sure to cover the inner corners of the eye. The S Club girls and most other pop stars were covered in shimmery eyeshadow from around 1999-2006, so it seemed best to go the whole hog too.

Step 2: Crease Shadow

Next, I used my Real Techniques Crease Brush, from the Starter Set for Eyes, and put a bit of Crisp Apple Strudel in and around my crease.

I was trying to copy Jo’s look for this – as she seems to be wearing a similar brown shimmery eyeshadow in the video. I also ran a little bit of this shadow under my lower eyelashes, using the slanted brush from the Real Techniques set. You can also use the little detailer brush for this, if you prefer to use your slanted brush for brows.

Step 3: White Line

I noticed that Tina and Jo seem to have white lines of shadow which extended a couple of millimetres above their upper lash line, which looked rather fetching, so I thought I’d try that too.

I hunted around from my white kohl pencil from Rimmel, but I couldn’t find it anywhere, so instead I wet my Real Techniques fine liner brush from the Starter Set, and used a bit of Too Faced ‘Cream Coloured Ponies’ eyeshadow. It worked ok, but for a less fiddly option, you should probably use a pencil liner or eyeshadow pencil!

Step 4: Black Line

Right. I actually did this twice because the first time I made it too thick, and it looked more like a 50’s or 60’s look than an S Club Party. If the line thickness changes between pictures, now you know why ;)

Handy tip: if you are in possession of a good eye makeup remover, dip a cotton bud in it and deal with eyeliner mistakes that way. It saves you taking everything off and starting again! I did that with my Clarins Démaquillant Express Instant Eye Make-Up Remover and it reduced the eyeliner to a more era-appropriate level, and I hardly had to redo my eyeshadow. Yay!

Anyway, to recreate Tina’s look, I did a very narrow line all around the eye, including the inner and outer corners, using my Eyeko Skinny Liquid Eyeliner in Black. I also paid a little more attention to the outer corners, making points rather than flicks to imitate Hannah’s makeup.

Step 5: The Waterline, Mascara & Brows

Once again, I would have liked to have a white kohl pencil on hand to brighten up my waterline for this look. Instead, I used Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal in 010 Silver. This always makes my eyes go red because of the glitter, but it does the job for recreating the ‘Never Had A Dream Come True’ look.

I then used Too Faced ‘Better Than Sex’ mascara on my top and bottom lashes, and the Mac Veluxe Brow Liner on my brows, blending with the attached spooley brush.

Tuhduuuuh. Sorry about the roots. I’m going to the salon this weekend!

FACE:

Step 1: Foundation

I didn’t use a primer for this, and whacked Laura Mercier’s Silk Crème Foundation straight onto my skin, blending it in with the Real Techniques Stippling Brush.

I decided not to use powder, because I didn’t need this look to last for too long, and the girls all have such silky skin in the video – a mattifying powder wouldn’t work.

Step 2: Concealer

I whacked Collection’s Lasting Perfection Concealer pretty much everywhere (under eyes, around nose, on blemishes) as I’m tired and blotchy and Rachel Stevens is perfect. I used the Real Techniques Setting Brush to blend it all in.

Step 3: Highlighter

I had a bit of fun with this one. This isn’t quite the usual shape in which I’d apply my highlighter, but the noughties were all about the dewy skin, so I just copied whichever parts of Jo’s, Hannah’s, Tina’s, and Rachel’s faces caught the light. I then blended it in with my setting brush.

Step 4: Bronzer

I decided to skip blusher on this occasion, as I couldn’t really detect any pinky tones on the girls’ cheeks. Instead, I went for the bronzer-as-blusher look, using the Bourjois Délice de Poudre bronzer.

LIPS:

Step 1: Degradation

The problem with beige lip colour being popular in the noughties was that it made everybody look a little bit dead.

Because I still remember this time with fear and apprehension, I wasn’t really willing to spend money on a colour that wouldn’t suit me. So what did I do? I made like the scene kids and preteen Jack Wills fans of the mid-noughties and put foundation on my lips instead!

It could have been worse…

Step 2: Lipgloss

This was better. I applied a combination of the Benefit lipglosses onto my lips to make them paler and less pink. Beige, glossy lips is a look that a lot of people rocked in the noughties – most particularly JLo – so I felt I should give it a go!

And that’s the finished look! I couldn’t help but do a historically-accurate high-angled Myspace pose! Complete with camera arm, of course.

I definitely don’t like this look, it makes my eyes look small, my nose look big, and my lips look weird. But hey ho, the noughties were a dark time for makeup and fashion, and a shining beacon decade for pop music. What can you do?

If you’d like to have a look at the posts by the rest of the bloggers involved in the collaboration, you can find the links below. I hope you enjoyed this post and am looking forward to seeing the other contributions!

A couple of weeks back, I bought this bronzer with a Boots gift card which my auntie had given me for Christmas. Before then, I’d never bought a matte bronzer for contouring, because I didn’t know what contouring was. I just thought that bronzer was a more glowy substitute for blusher in the summertime.

I know.

Today, however, I know better. I had been on the hunt for a good bronzer for ages, but had never knuckled down and made a purchase. I stuck with a very orange one from Next, which I’d been given as a gift once. It was sufficient, but not great.

Anyway, in my Bristolian Beauty Haul, I bought this bronzer from Bourjois. This is the one that looks like a bar of chocolate. Hence ‘Délice de Poudre’. It doesn’t smell like chocolate, but I think the appearance is enough, really.

Anyway, here’s a swatch. The shade is the lighter of the two available, and is called Peaux Claires / Médianes (51):

And this is my attempt to wear it. I’ve got Bareminerals Matte SPF Foundation, Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer, and a good-night’s-sleep-face on underneath.

Sorry for the weird half-smile, but you can’t see the product if my cheeks are scrunched up smiling! I still haven’t mastered the arts of countouring and blending, but I hope this gives you an idea of the subtle glow this bronzer offers. I think it’s very natural looking, which is always nice.

Here’s a breakdown of the review:

Pros:

Matte: Although this product claims to be “filled with glints of sunshine”, it isn’t glittery or sparkly at all, unlike a lot of bronzers at this price and above. The matte appearance makes it much more natural looking and perfect for contouring.

Good Colour Pay Off: I know this is usually something you’d say about eyeshadow, but the pigmentation on this product is very good for a drugstore or high street bronzer.

Light Texture: This is very soft and easy to move around the face. It’s almost a creamy textured powder, which is interesting.

Price: It’s £6.99. Bit of a no-brainer, really!

Works for Pasty People: This is rare in a bronzer. Often, they are too dark, too orange, or too obvious to contour pale skin in an attractive, subtle way. But this one is perfect.

Not Orange: So many bronzers are orange! But this one is brown, and thus much more natural. Très bien, Bourjois. Bien fait.

Cons:

Lasting Power: I’ve only put this in the ‘cons’ section because I had nothing else to put in the ‘cons’ section. I haven’t noticed anything about its lasting power, probably because bronzer is a subtle art and I don’t really notice whether its still on my face or not at the end of the day. I’d guess it lasts 5-6 hours though. Which isn’t bad.

Scent: As above. I had nothing else to write here, so am going to be facetious about the scent. It smells nice, but not of chocolate. Misleading! Oh also, I only noticed that it had a scent when I sniffed the box to check, whilst writing this blog post. I’ve been using it for two weeks prior to this and didn’t notice the scent. Hmmm.

In conclusion: c’est délicieux!

Have you tried this bronzer before? What’s your favourite contouring product? I’m still learning, so would love to hear your recommendations!

Today started really, really badly. As it’s the last day of 2013, and in many ways I’ve been very lucky this year, all of the remaining bad luck seemed to swoop in and violently attack me between 8.15 and 9.00 this morning. It was pretty intense. There was blood. And swearing.

The bad luck started when I left my boyfriend’s flat to give him a lift to work. On my way out to the car, I fell over after forgetting about a particularly devilish step. My ankle gave way and I went flying, grazing my hand and cutting my knee. Oops. I had been planning to go straight to the shopping centre after dropping my boyfriend off, but instead had to head back to the flat to clean up my bleeding knee and change my ravaged tights. I couldn’t exactly go out looking as if I’d been attacked by a feral dog, after all.

In the twenty minutes it took to sort myself out, I managed to get a parking ticket. There is free parking and there are no double yellow lines on the road outside the flat, so I thought I was ok. However, being a country bumpkin, I wasn’t aware that parking “in a special enforcement area adjacent to a dropped footway” would get me a £70 fine (£35 if I paid within two weeks). I didn’t even notice that the curb dropped in that area. If I had noticed, I still wouldn’t have known it was an offence, but would admittedly have moved the car to a more considerate position, so that wheelchair users and other folk could cross the road more easily. Ugh. Massive error.

The worst part is that if I hadn’t fallen over and cut my knee, I wouldn’t have had to go back to the flat in the first place. I would have gone shopping straight away, blissfully free of dropped pavements and sore knees. Woe.

Still, after a moment of dithery misery in the car, I knuckled down and drove to the shopping centre, to look for a duvet for Boyf, a new pair of tights, and a very indulgent way to spend the money my Grandparents gave me, with which I was to buy myself a Christmas gift. And, y’know, pay my sodding parking fine…

So here’s what I bought!

Boots:

I got a £15 Boots voucher from my Auntie and Uncle for Christmas, so spent it on the Bourjois ‘Delice De Poudre’ Bronzer (£6.99) and a Real Techniques Blush Brush (£8.99). I’m a huge fan of these brushes, but didn’t own a decent blush brush until now, or indeed a proper Bronzer. Can’t wait to use both of them!

Debenhams:

After a long hunt in an unfamiliar city, I finally tracked down the Urban Decay counter in Bristol’s Debenhams, with the hope of picking up Naked Basics. Being small yet perfectly formed, I thought that Naked Basics would be the ideal palette to take on future trips to Bristol.

However, I got distracted. Across the shop, I spotted a beautiful Too Faced palette, which could also work for travel thanks to its flat shape. ‘A Few Of My Favourite Things’ contains 20 eyeshadow shades, both matte and sparkly, two bronzes, two blushes, a ‘Better than Sex’ mascara, a ‘Colour Bomb!’ lip tint in ‘Bee Sting’, and comes with a cute bag to hold the lot. Most importantly, today it was generously reduced from £48 to £32.16. Wooooow.

I’ve never tried any Too Faced products before, so purchasing this palette marks a strong deviation from my unbreakable obsession with Urban Decay shadows. I went shopping looking for Naked Basics and a Benefit Box Set, and came home with this.

That is the nature of beauty obsession: random, unpredictable, extravagant. Above all else, though, indulging the obsession makes you feel much better after an extremely dodgy morning.

Before I bought this blusher, I’d heard some fairly fantastic things about it.

“It’s just like that NARS one with the filthy name!” said some. “It’s got pretty sparkles!” said others. “It’s four bloody quid!” said a few.

While I can’t say much about how well this blusher operates as a NARS dupe, having never tried the NARS stuff, I can say that Sleek have really outdone themselves in creating a beautiful blusher for a great price.

As you can see by the absolute mess I’ve made of my blush in the above picture, it’s already very well loved. In the pros and cons list below, I’ll outline why:

Pros:

The pigments. I have never come across such a highly pigmented drugstore blusher. You hardly need to use any at all, and Rose Gold is such a lovely colour. Thumbs up!

The colour itself is quite reminiscent of Benefit’s Coralista, but with little flecks of gold. I think the picture below reflects the true colour most accurately.

While many drugstore blushers contain little pigment and lots of glitter, this one isn’t as sparkly as you might expect. With this, you won’t look like a twelve year old wearing Argos makeup to an S Club concert. You will look sexy. And that’s a good thing.

It sort of smells nice?

Sleek also offer a good range of other shades, which, again, you wouldn’t always expect from a high street brand.

It’s £4.49. Yep.

Most accurate representation of the colour I could get. Hope it suffices!

Cons:

The box is really difficult to open, especially if you have a filthy nail-biting habit like me. The eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed the big dip in the middle of my blusher. I’ve been gradually digging into it every time I struggle to open the box, and my finger gets thrust into the powder. Oops.

Could last longer, but overall I’m fairly happy with its staying power.

Um…that’s pretty much it.

So I tried to get a picture to demonstrate how pigmented this blusher is, and it didn’t really work. Sorry :(

I’m afraid I tried to do a swatch for you, but every photo I took didn’t show off the pigmentation as much as natural light did. I’m sure if you hop down to Superdrug and stick your finger in it, you’ll be just as impressed as I was!

Have you tried any Sleek products before, or are you partial to some high-end cheek colour? Let me know what you think in the comments!